This invention relates generally to a device for attaching an auxiliary aiming device (such as a laser, scope or flashlight) to a semi-automatic pistol; more specifically, it relates to the mounting of an auxiliary aiming device to a pistol of the type that has a recoil spring guide which has a forward portion that is at least partially exposed at the front of the pistol.
It is well known that the sights that are installed on a pistol at the factory where the pistol is made do not always satisfy the owner/user of the pistol. Hence, it is common for a person who is going to shoot a pistol to replace or supplement the factory-original sights with an auxiliary sighting device such as a scope. It is also common for shooters to attach accessory lights to their pistols, when the pistols are to be fired at night or in a low-light environment. Such lights may constitute small but powerful battery-operated flashlights which illuminate the field of view for a shooter, so that the shooter may then utilize the pistol's original "iron" sights or some other auxiliary sighting device. Accessory lights may also be of the laser type, in which a beam of light is projected from the pistol in a direction that is parallel to the bore, so that the shooter will know exactly where the pistol is pointed.
With regard to the pistols to which a shooter might wish to attach one of the above-described aiming devices, there are two principal types of pistols that are made and sold by major commercial manufacturers: revolvers and semi-automatics. This invention is broadly concerned with the second type, which are sometimes referred to by the abbreviated, though technically incorrect terms, "autos" or "automatics." More specifically, this invention is concerned with those semi-automatic pistols which are characterized by the presence of a recoil spring that is compressed by the recoiling action of the pistol's barrel, slide 58 when the pistol is fired. After a given round has been fired, the potential energy that is captured during the compression of the coiled spring is recovered by allowing the spring to expand. The expanding spring drives the barrel and/or breechblock forward with a fresh round, rendering the pistol again ready for firing when the trigger is pulled a subsequent time. A typical recoil spring is usually restricted to a very tightly controlled movement within a pistol by a rigid guide or rod, which usually fits internally of the coiled spring for much--if not all--of its length.
While it seems that modern reference books usually give adequate basic information about semi-automatic pistols, it will be necessary in this disclosure to call attention to a feature of modern semi-automatic pistols that is not universal. The feature that is of interest, and which is critical to utilization of the teachings herein, is that some pistols have a recoil spring guide that is completely concealed within the pistol's frame or housing, while other pistols have a recoil spring guide whose frontal portion is at least partially exposed at the front of the frame. The difference (at least as far as this invention is concerned) is significant, but thus far it has seemingly been ignored in the literature-probably because it didn't really seem to have any impact with regard to either the operation of the pistol or what a person could do with the feature. The difference in how a recoil spring guide is structured is not a concealed difference, and it is not even very hard to discover when a given pistol is available for examination. So perhaps in the future, writers who are describing a particular pistol will begin to communicate a significant bit of information to readers by mentioning whether the guide is of one type or the other.
This invention is concerned only with those pistols in which a frontal portion of the recoil spring guide is at least partially exposed, or can be easily altered to be exposed, when the pistol is assembled for firing. Within this category are pistols such as the Glock 17, Smith & Wesson 59, SIG 226, Beretta 92F, Ruger P85, and Smith & Wesson 3913 (also known as the "lady Smith"). It should be understood that this list is not meant to be an all-inclusive list; rather, it is intended to be exemplary-and to demonstrate that both U.S. and foreign manufacturers are producing semi-automatic pistols which are capable of utilizing the invention described herein. In all of the pistols to which this invention is applicable, it would be accurate to say that the recoil spring guide is fixed, anchored or "grounded" to the pistol's frame in some manner, such that the guide does not move with the slide, barrel or breechblock in response to the firing of a round. The only other critical characteristic of applicable pistols is that a frontal portion of the guide must be normally exposed when the pistol is assembled for firing. When these two features are present in a pistol, the pistol can be enhanced by attaching thereto an auxiliary aiming device of any of a variety of shapes, sizes, etc., by removing the original recoil spring guide and replacing it with a new guide that provides any of a variety of beneficial features-as will now be explained, with appropriate reference to the figures of the drawing provided herewith.